HIGHLAND: Cal Fire chief on phone during fatal crash, CHP says

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story included inaccurate information about a CHP report on the crash. A CHP officer noted that Cal Fire Unit Chief Tim McClelland was using a hands-free device while talking on a phone.

The Cal Fire chief accused of causing a 2012 traffic collision in Highland that killed another motorist was talking on his cellphone at the time, according to a California Highway Patrol report released Monday, April 15.

Timothy John McClelland, 48, the San Bernardino unit chief, was driving his Cal Fire pickup east on Highway 210 on Aug. 2, when he rear-ended the vehicle driven by Gregory Francis Kirwin, 48, of Banning, the CHP said. Kirwin died at the scene.

McClelland has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

McClelland told Officer Raul Arriaga that at the time of the collision, he was talking on his cellphone using the vehicleâs hands-free Bluetooth system that runs through the radio. Arriaga checked a box on the report that indicated the cellphone was being used hands-free.

Itâs unclear why McClelland is being charged with gross negligence. The San Bernardino County district attorneyâs office has declined to comment on the specifics of the charge, and the complaint filed in Superior Court in San Bernardino did not offer any insight.

McClelland told Arriaga he was looking to his left as he changed lanes from right to left, the report said. When he looked forward again, he saw debris in front of his pickup and couldnât see through it. Thatâs when the collision occurred.

McClelland is using accrued leave to take time off work, Cal Fire spokeswoman Janet Upton said.

He is next due in Superior Court in San Bernardino on May 23.

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